Preparation of fraudulent hiring documentation implicating multiple state agencies and departments
Feds detail probe of state job rigging
July 1, 2006
BY CHRIS FUSCO AND STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporters
Federal investigators probing alleged job rigging in Gov. Blagojevich's administration "have implicated multiple state agencies" and have "developed a number of credible witnesses," a bombshell letter penned by U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald states.
Fitzgerald sent the letter to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on June 20 so her employees would not duplicate his office's investigation of possible violations of a court decree called Rutan, which bars politics from being considered in the hiring and firing of nearly all state employees.
Madigan released the two-page single-spaced letter Friday afternoon as she announced she was curtailing an investigation of the governor's office the Chicago Sun-Times first disclosed in May 2005.
In his letter, Fitzgerald wrote that the FBI and his staff began investigating "fraudulent hiring practices" by the Democratic governor's administration about a year ago and opened a second probe late last summer.
"Those investigations have now been merged and involve the alleged rigging of state employment practices to enable political hiring in violation of Rutan and include, among other things, the preparation of fraudulent hiring documentation," Fitzgerald wrote. "Our investigation has now implicated multiple state agencies and departments and we have developed a number of credible witnesses."
Hired included 'some bad apples'
The release of Fitzgerald's letter came on the heels of federal prosecutors wrapping up their case this week against three City of Chicago employees on trial for allegedly engaging in criminal patronage hiring of city workers.
Blagojevich, like Mayor Daley, has maintained he has done nothing wrong. Both men have been interviewed by the feds, but neither have been accused of wrongdoing.
"When we came into office, we began to reform a system that was difficult to change," gubernatorial spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said after Fitzgerald's letter became public. "With that said, we did have to hire people to help run state government. Among those we hired, there were some bad apples who violated the rules."
New hiring rules Blagojevich put in place during his first year in office in 2003 "helped ferret out this wrongdoing" and led to the governor's office referring employees to Fitzgerald's office for criminal investigation, Ottenhoff said.
"We will continue pursuing those who would break the rules," she concluded.
But as Blagojevich touted his efforts to clean up state hiring, two state employees fired April 4 for allegedly giving "special treatment" to politically connected job candidates scored a victory in an effort to keep their posts.
Claims clients scapegoated
An administrative law judge hearing the case of Dawn DeFraties and Michael Casey for the state Civil Service Commission ruled that the main accusations against the two -- including manipulating the grading system for job applicants known to have political sponsors -- be dismissed because they lacked detail. Lawyers for the governor have until July 19 to provide more specific information about whose job applications were affected.
Ottenhoff said the administration will do exactly that and did not want to divulge too many details about DeFraties and Casey because of the U.S. attorney's probe. "We are prepared to provide that," she said.
Springfield attorney Carl Draper, who is representing DeFraties and Casey, said the ruling helps show that his clients are being scapegoated.
"They couldn't come up with a single fact to support the charge," Draper said of the Blagojevich administration's lawyers. "The bottom line is if this governor cared about stopping corruption in his employment practices, he needed to stop it in his own office."
Madigan, a fellow Democrat who has sparred with Blagojevich on several issues, began probing the governor's office last year following accusations from Blagojevich's estranged father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), that appointments to state boards and commissions were being traded for hefty campaign contributions. Mell eventually recanted that charge, but Madigan still sought mountains of paperwork from members of the governor's inner circle related to "employment or appointment in any capacity for any jurisdiction," according to a subpoena the Sun-Times obtained in May 2005.
No comment on letter
In fall 2005, Fitzgerald's staff sought job-placement records from Blagojevich's office and his transportation, child-welfare and corrections departments. In October, the Sun-Times disclosed that a wire had been worn as part of the federal probe, and, in May, the newspaper disclosed a list of nearly 300 Blagojevich administration hires recommended by lobbyists, lawyers and major political fund-raisers.
The governor's office said it wasn't familiar with that list. But it acknowledged for the first time that it kept track of politicians and others who refer candidates for state jobs, in case sponsors wanted to know the status of their requests.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office had no comment on Fitzgerald's letter, would not confirm or deny the investigation and declined to say anything further.
The release of the letter was not viewed as a positive development within the U.S. attorney's office. While publicizing an investigation can bring potential witnesses forward, it can prompt people to shred documents, get lawyers and get their stories straight before investigators visit them.
In the letter, Fitzgerald thanked Madigan for letting his office take over the hiring probe, saying that "the most important consideration for both our offices is that the very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud be thoroughly and expeditiously investigated and, if appropriate, prosecuted."
cfusco@suntimes.com
swarmbir@suntimes.com
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-clout01.html
Original content is Copyrighted © by NoDNC.com . Original author(s) retain their own copyright(s). Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment.
